The Dodo Archive

Are These Humpback Whales Hiding From Orcas Under A Whale Watching Boat?

A fascinating video showing a pair of humpbacks listing around a whale watching boat in the waters off Vancouver is making its way around the internet, supposedly showing a rare example of the massive whales seeking shelter under the boat.

Canada's Global News ran the video with the headline "WATCH: 2 humpback whales hide from orcas next to whale watching boat."According to the story, two orcas were spotted near a pod of humpbacks. While many of the humpbacks soon left the area, two stayed around the whale watching boat for nearly an hour, supposedly "hiding" from the orcas.

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(Doug Davis / YouTube)

But with what we know about orca and humpback interactions, could this really be true? As it turns out, it's really not likely that the humpbacks are being chased - but the real story is even better. According to Dr. Phil Clapham, a leading humpback whale researcher at NOAA's National Marine Mammal Laboratory, this behavior isn't so unusual after all.

"These are just two curious humpbacks who were interested in a boat - it happens all the time in various places," he told The Dodo. "And I have no doubt that the other whales didn't 'leave the area'... they just moved on, or the boat didn't see them again."

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(Doug Davis / YouTube)

Like many other species, curiosity comes naturally to humpback whales, Clapham said.

"These whales are exhibiting typical curious behavior, with a relaxed and easy respiration rate. I doubt they gave a thought to the killer whales, which may not even have been the mammal-eating type, and anyway don't go after adult humpbacks."

This may not have been an example of all-out orca-humpback war, but interaction between the two species isn't unheard of. One interesting example last month showed what appeared to be a group of humpbacks "mobbing" a pod of orcas - though it's not actually clear that the humpbacks were intending to "drive off" the killer whales. Either way, it's a startling incident: